The No. 3 UCLA softball team will head to Oregon this weekend for its final series of the regular season. But when the final pitch is thrown on Saturday, the Bruins’ season will be far from over.
UCLA will square off against Oregon today and against Oregon State Friday and Saturday, prior to receiving its seeding on Sunday for the NCAA Women’s College World Series.
“We are preparing like we do for any other game,” junior Amanda Kamekona said. “We’re kind of just preparing for postseason.”
The Bruins (43-6, 15-3 Pac-10) are 3-0 against the Oregon schools this season, thanks to an early-season sweep at home. Oregon (32-24, 4-13 Pac-10) and Oregon State (26-29, 4-14 Pac-10) are the bottom two teams in the conference and probably will be playing their final games of the season this weekend.
As UCLA has already locked up a spot in the postseason, the only tangible thing on the line is the Pac-10 Championship. No. 2 Arizona State and UCLA are the only two teams mathematically in the running.
The Sun Devils’ 5-2 victory over the Bruins last Sunday gave Arizona State the season series, 2-1, and put it one game ahead going into this weekend. Arizona State will host No. 8 Stanford (45-10, 10-8 Pac-10) on Thursday, then finish its season with two games against No. 23 Cal (40-21, 7-11 Pac-10).
The Bruins, however, will focus less on obtaining a ninth Pac-10 title and more on using these games as a final tune-up for the postseason. Ranked No. 3 in the nation, the Bruins are expected to have at least one set of home games to begin the playoffs in the regional round, when they will take on three other teams in double-elimination format.
Last year, the Bruins made an uncharacteristic and surprising early exit from the NCAA tournament playing at home in the regionals. They were eliminated on the second day after losing back-to-back games against Hawaii and Loyola Marymount.
If the Bruins make it out of one of the 16 regional sites, they would advance to one of eight Super Regionals, where they may come face-to-face with other teams from the Pac-10. ASU, Stanford and Arizona are all ranked in the top 10 nationally and are near locks for the postseason. No. 24 Washington and Cal both remain on the bubble and will need solid weekends to ensure their seasons continue. Assuming their seed is high enough, the Bruins would play in the comfort of Easton Stadium through to the Super Regionals.
The Women’s College World Series will kick off May 29 in Oklahoma City with the final eight teams. Last year, half of that field was Pac-10 teams, and Arizona eventually was crowned champion for the eighth time.
The only team ranked above the Bruins and the Sun Devils are the No. 1 Florida Gators (59-2, 27-1 SEC). The Bruins and Gators played six common opponents this year: Illinois, Notre Dame, Long Beach State, Cal State Fullerton, Oregon State and Stanford. Florida went a combined 7-1 against those teams with their only loss coming to Long Beach State in extra innings. The Bruins went 6-2 against the same opponents, falling to Illinois and Cal State Fullerton.
The Bruins appear to have as good a shot as any team to get to Oklahoma City this year. UCLA’s success has been grounded on solid defense and strong pitching, which should carry them in the post season. The Bruins have unusual depth in the circle with three pitchers who can start. The return of senior Ashley Herrera should bolster their defense at third base and help on the base paths. The Bruins’ only weakness may revolve around experience; the Bruins have eight freshmen on their roster, four of whom are regularly in the starting lineup.
Kamekona said that the team wants a 12th National Championship “really bad.”
“That’s been our goal since day one,” she said. “This whole journey and this whole team is dedicated to getting and winning it all.”
The NCAA Regionals begin at the home site of the higher seeded teams on May 16.
KAMEKONA WINS THREE AWARDS: On Tuesday, Kamekona was named NFCA, USA Softball and Pac-10 Player of the Week. Kamekona went 6-for-10 with three home runs and five runs batted in last weekend’s series against Arizona and Arizona State.
This is the second time this season a Bruin has won all three awards in the same week. Senior Anjelica Selden did so on Feb. 26.